Rat guard for ships&#39; cables and lines



May 27,1947.v R., E 2,421,151

RAT GUARD FOR SHIPS CABLES AND LINES Filed July 16, 1946 INVENTORS REIY LAVERN TJUHNETDNE BY JRIEHAR'H/EIEL NE IIIJWNER Patented May 27, 1947 I UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE RAT GUARD FOR SHIPS CABLES AND LINES Roy Lavern Johnstone, San Francisco, and Richard Fielding Downer, Oakland, Calif.

Application July 16, 1946, Serial No. 683,838

1 Claim. 1

This invention is an improvement in a rat guard for ships cable and lines.

The use of discs and other devices on ships lines and cables is well known, but owing to the changing strains, and the movement of ships tied to docks, the ordinary discs tend to become loose and slid down the line, or the space in the center of the disc may and does often become enlarged, so that the guard loses its efficiency to prevent rats from boarding a ship along the lines or cables.

This invention keeps the disc in the same position on the cable or line under all circumstances, and automatically keeps the space around th cable or line constantly closed so that a rat cannot pass the guard.

In the drawings similar numbers apply to similar parts in each of the figures:

Fig. 1, plan view of rat guard.

Fig. 2, plan view of rat guard with the doors closed and in position on cable.

Fig. 3, plan view of guard with doors open and the disc bent for slipping on cable. 7

Fig. 4, view of one of the sliding doors for closing the space around cable.

The metal disc I8 is cut between the circumference and the circular space 1, and it is made of material sufiiciently thin to be bent to allow being slipped transversely over the line or cable I4, and it is then bent back to form a plane and secured by the lock 6. The doors 8, 8 are fiat sheets of metal, which are hinged on pivot hinges II, II. The doors 8, 8 are slideable over the disc l8, and also the upper parts slide over each other to close the space around cable 14, which is shown in section in Fig. 2. The doors 8, 8 have the slots 9, 9, secured by buttons III, II], and these buttons l8, are sufficiently loose to allow the doors 8, 8 to slide over each other to close the space around cable 14, in circular space i. The rings l2, 12 are attached to doors 8, 8 to loop over buttons l3, 13, when not in position on cable l4, and the springs l5, l5, will keep the doors 8, 8 pressed against cable I4. The buttons ll, l1 on doors 8, 8 are for convenienc in pressing the doors 8, 8 back into a position to lock them open. The springs l5, l5 are attached to button 16 at one end and a springis attached to each door at the other ends of the spiral springs. In addition to closing the space around cable I4, the efiect of springs l5, I5 is to keep the guard firmly pressed against cable l4, and thereby to prevent the guard from slipping on the cable.

Having thus described our invention, we claim:

A rat guard for ships cables and lines, comrising a flexible metal disc, having a concentric circular space in its central portion for the cable or line, a radial cut in the disc so that it may be bent to admit the cable or line, a lock to close the disc, after the guard has been adjusted to the line or cable, two oppositely positioned doors, slideable towards the center of the disc and operated by springs, said doors being slideable over each other, to close the spaces around the cable or line, and to press on the cable and keep the disc from slipping.

The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Name Date Mallu Sept. 8, 1925 Number 

